She Knows Her Mother
by Lucretia Cyphus
Summary: My entry for the last day of Cherish the Peanut Week on Tumblr. Summary: Robin and Regina discover his daughter's magic, and that she considers Regina her mother. What will happen when Zelena finds out? A bit anti-Zelena, just so you're forewarned.


Entry for final day of Cherish the Peanut Week on Tumblr.

Summary: Robin and Regina discover his daughter's magic, and that she considers Regina her mother. What will happen when Zelena finds out? Not really Anti-Zelena, but not Pro either.

The first time it happened was completely unexpected. Little Elaina had shown no signs of magic in her first few months, and Robin hadn't really considered whether or not she would. It just wasn't on his mind and wasn't something he and Regina had talked about.

Then one morning, they were both woken by a slight thump in the middle of their bed, instead of the crying that usually woke them.

"What the?" Robin said as he started to turn over.

"Careful," Regina said, quickly, so he stopped his moving. He heard a soft giggle and realized that somehow, his daughter had ended up in their bed. He moved slowly and gently to make sure he wouldn't roll on the baby girl.

She was giggling, seeming almost proud of herself for managing to teleport herself.

"So, apparently she can transport herself places," Regina commented, scooping Elaina into her arms.

"Before she can even walk," Robin continued her thought. He smiled at his baby girl and moved to kiss her head.

After a moment it became clear that Elaina had teleported herself to them for a reason as she began to whimper a bit rather than smile.

"And that's the start of the hungry cry," Robin commented, standing up to take her down stairs for her breakfast.

"I just hope she doesn't start doing that every time she wants something," Regina said, following them downstairs. "I mean, what if we had been standing when she did it? She could hurt herself."

"I know," Robin said, looking a little concerned for the first time as he started to heat some formula for the squirmy baby in his arms. She was content as she ate, and didn't seem likely to use magic again.

"If you want, I can take her today," Robin said, changing the subject. "I can rearrange some things around."

"It's okay," Regina insisted. "It's my day to endure the visit."

"You shouldn't have to…" Robin said, getting a guilty look on his face as he began to burp Elaina.

"Neither should you," Regina said firmly. "But, it's what we all agreed to. And I know David needs your help today," she continued, squeezing his arm reassuringly as she took the bottle from him to clean. "Don't worry. We always come back. And I have Henry's headphones to cancel out her voice."

"Those things really are a godsend when I have to go," Robin agreed, grateful to his step-son for letting him borrow what he called 'noise canceling' headphones so he could zone out Zelena during the two hours he had to let her spend with their daughter twice a week. Regina went Mondays, he went Thursdays, and Henry used his other headphones on those days.

"Tell me about it. I can watch her with Elaina, but I can't hear her. Almost as good as taking her voice away again," Regina said with a slightly guilty smirk.

An hour later she went to the hospital and headed towards one of the private rooms that she reserved for these visits. There was one thing that both she and Zelena agreed on, and that was that the cell wasn't an appropriate space for Elaina's supervised visits with her biological mother. So Regina always made sure a room upstairs that was brighter and more cheerful was booked for them.

As usual, Zelena just reached for Elaina without saying anything to Regina, who reluctantly handed her over. Even though Zelena was cuffed, and this time in such a way that no one but her, Robin, Emma, or David could remove it, Regina still felt her stomach clench every time she had to hand the baby girl over to her.

Regina went to sit in her usual spot in the corner, turned on her iPod to drown out the sound, and pulled out a book to read to pass the time. She kept one eye on Zelena as she always did but the room had the same protections her cell did so she didn't really need to worry that much.

She was just getting to an interesting part in the story that Henry insisted she would love when suddenly Elaina appeared in her lap with a thump. The baby girl was giving a soft cry, so Regina took out her ear buds while supporting her head and then lifted her as she stood up.

Before Regina could figure out exactly why Elaina had transported herself and was crying, she felt Zelena's eyes on her, and looked over at her half-sister. Zelena was standing up over at the table, and at first she only appeared surprised, and then got a slight smile on her face.

"So, she can do magic?" she said excitedly as Elaina continued to cry. As Regina shifted the baby in her arms, it became clear that she was crying because she needed her diaper changed.

"Just this so far," Regina said offhandedly. "This morning it was because she was hungry."

"And you didn't tell me," Zelena said, sounding annoyed.

"Today was the first day," Regina responded, guarded.

"You still could have told me," she snipped.

Regina shrugged as she replied,

"You've made it clear you don't want to talk to me when I'm here. And she needs her diaper changed, that's why she did it."

Zelena's eyes narrowed further.

"It's not fair! You aren't her mother, and she goes to you?"

Regina struggled not to roll her own as her sister set off yet again.

"She lives with me, and I take care of her. What did you expect Zelena?"

"Oh, I knew you'd try to turn her against me, I just didn't think you'd succeed this soon. I've had no chance!"

This time, Regina couldn't help but roll her eyes. But she took a deep breath to keep herself calm and continued,

"If you want her to go to you, take the diaper bag and change her. Then she'll know you can too."

Elaina had now started to cry, not only uncomfortable from a very wet diaper, but also scared from the yelling of her birth mother. It took all of Regina's will power not to follow her instincts and take Elaina out, but she remained where she was, and tentatively handed the baby girl out.

Zelena did move forward to take her, but as she came closer, Elaina started crying louder, knowing where the scary noise had come from.

"She doesn't want me," Zelena said, angrily.

"Because you were yelling and it scared her. It still is," Regina said.

"You've turned her against me," Zelena repeated.

"She's a baby," Regina said as harshly as she could without scaring the frightened infant further. "She doesn't know how to be against you yet. But if you keep this up, I won't need to turn her against you."

Having had enough, Regina used her own magic to transport herself and Elaina home. She took a deep breath and took Elaina to her nursery to change her and calm her down. It took time, but after being cleaned up and rocked for awhile the baby fell asleep.

While Elaina was napping, Regina heard Robin come home.

"You're home early," she remarked.

"I was just going to grab something to eat. Are you alright? You look stressed. Was it Zelena?" he asked, concerned.

"Of course it was," she said, but with a smile. It wasn't him she was annoyed with. "Elaina used her magic to magic herself to me when she needed to be changed. I'll leave the rest to your imagination."

Robin rolled his eyes.

"I highly doubt I need a very active imagination to figure it out. I'm sure she was livid."

"Oh yes, apparently Elaina wanting me is us turning her daughter against her. Meanwhile, she's the one terrifying her by screaming."

"She'll just have to get over it," Robin said, touching Regina's shoulder in comfort. "Or she won't see Elaina at all."

"She tried to say I wasn't Elaina's mother."

Robin simply smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Well, it sounds like Elaina disagrees. She knows who her mother is."


End file.
